Supporting means for well tubing



Sept. 3, 1929. 1 K, PUTNAM 1,727,080

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR WELL TUBING Original Filed July 28, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 1 @Moen/hoz Sept. 3, 1929. J. K. PUTNAM 1,727,080

SUPPORTING MEANS Fon WELL TUBING original Filed. July 28, 1927 2sheets-Sheet z @Wamego Patented Sept.' 3, 1929.

NiTED STATES l 1,727,080 PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES K. PUTNAM, F TULSA, GIKLAHOMA, ASSIGNOR TO THE INTERNATIONALDEBBICK & EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.Q

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR WELL TUBING.

Application filed July 28, 1927, Serial No. 209,145. Renewed March 20,1929.

' l The invention relates to apparatus or mechanism used in oil wells. i

(lne of the objects of my invention is to provide a supporting devicefor well tubing which is adapted to automatically grip the sides of thewell whenever the lower end of the tubing structure is caused to contactwith or rest to a substantial extent upon the bottom of the well.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a device that thebreaking of the tubing either above or below the supporting device willautomatically cause the supporting device to grip the sides of the wellwith suidcient ress to preclude material falling action.

@ther objects of my invention will appear l as this descriptionprogresses and will be more lili forced outwardly in a lateral manner soas to bring them into gripping contact with the sides of the well.

,My supporting device is further preferably constructed so that it maybe introduced into a string of tubing and, when in position therein,will be free from leakage. l preferably accomplish this by havingcontacting shoulders mounted on relatively telescoping parts ofy mystructure. i

Another feature of my invention consists in the 'provision of means forlimiting the outward movement of the slips in order to prevent escape ofsuch slips from the supportl upon which they are mounted and in order toprevent gripping the sides of the well with undueiforce.

' Another feature of my invention consists in the provision of a meansfor actuating the slips which embodies a means for rst moving the slipslaterally and then longitudinally together with means for directlyapplying spring pressure to these slips.

Still another aspect of this particular strucelevation showing therelation of parts when the tubing is being lowered down the well, orprior to such lowering.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view with the parts related as shown in Fig. 1.

F1g. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the tubing supported inthe well casing. l

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on line /l-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the upper tubular member.

Fig. 6 is an upper end view of this member.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the lower tubular member.

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively, a side elevation and an end view of oneof the slip-connecting springs.-

The form of construction selected for illustration willbe herein ratherspecifically described, with the understanding however that within thescope of the invention as claimed, numerous variations may be made.

10 denotes an upper tubular member threaded at its upper end as at 11,for connection with a tubing section 12. The lower end of the tubularmember 1() is enlarged both internally and externally and is provided atits interior withl an annular upwardly facing shoulder 13, which isformed by the upper end of a tubular extension ,14 on a cylindricalspring barrel 15, said tubular extension being threaded into the lowerend of the member 10. The spring barrel 15 projects to any desiredextent, below the member 10 and is provided at its lower end with anupwardly facing shoulder formed by a ring 16 secured to the barrel byfasteners 17. This barrel is spaced around a lower tubular member 18whose lower end is threaded as at 19 for engagement with a lower tubingsection, and the upper end of said member 18 passes slidably throughthetubular extension 14 of the spring barrel 15, into the lower portionof the upper tubular member 10. The upper end of member 18 is providedwith an annular peripheral enlargement 20 which rests on the shoulder 13when the weight of all parts below the member 10, is suspended by thismember and parts above the latter. This relation is seen in Figs. 1 and2, and when it exists, a second peripheral enlargement 21 on the lowermember 18, is spaced below the extension 14. However, when member 10slides downwardly, the enlargement 21 enters the lower end of theextension 14 and the latter rests on a collar 23 as shown in Fig. 3,thereby limiting the downward sliding of said member 10. l

The collar 23 is threaded or otherwise secured around the member 18 andit may well abut the lower side of the enlargement 21 ot said member.Another collar 24 surrounds the member 18 and contacts with the lowerside of the collar 23, and a coiled compression spring 25 is positionedbetween the spring barrel l5 and the member 18 with its upper end incontact with said collar 24, while its lower end abuts the collar 16.

A slip actuating means in the form of a sleeve 26 surrounds the upperportion of the spring barrel 15 and the lower end portion of the member10, the upper end of said sleeve terminating at the shoulder 27 formedat the juncture of the two external diameters of said member 10. Thelower end of this sleeve 26 is connected by appropriate fasteners 28with plained.

Above the shoulder 27, the member 10 is provided with a plurality ofcams or cam lugs 30 which are spaced apart both vertically andcircumferentially of said member, the peripheral surfaces of these camsbeing disposed almost in vertical planes. All of these cams however,except the lowermost have additional Vcams 31 at their lower ends whichincline outwardly from the center of the member 10 and are at obtuseangles to the peripheral faces of said cams 30. The lower ends 31a ofthe lowermost of the cams 30 are preferably at approximately rightangles to the axis of the member 10. Formed at the upper ends of theuppermost cams 30, are a plurality of overhanging stop hooks 32 for apurpose to appear.

A plurality of slips 33 are disposed at the periphery of the member 10and are internally cut away to quite an extent, giving maximum spacethrough which luid may pass. Between its ends, each slip is providedwith a cam portion 34 normally engaging an intermediate one of the cams31. At its upper end said slip is provided with an acute angular portion35 normally engaging an uppermost of the cams 31, and at its lower end,said slip is provided with a hook portion 36 normally underlying thelower end 31a of one lowermost cam 30. Thislower end of the slip 33 isprovided also with a surface 37 which inclines toward the axis of themember 10 and normally overlies the upper end of the sleeve 26 as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. At the inner extremity of this cam surface 37, theslip is provided with a shoulder 38.

While 'lowering the entire device into a. well, the slips 33 are held inthe positions of Figs. 1 and 2 by means of U-shaped springs 39 which arepositioned between the slips and the member 10 as shown most clearly inFig. 4, the arms of said springs being provided with hooks 40 hookedinto appropriate openings in the slip portions 34.

As soon as the lower tubular member 18 reaches the limit of its downwardmovement, the upper member 10, the slips 33, the spring barrel 15 andthe collar 16, all move further downward, but during such movement, thespring 25 maintains the collar 24 in contact with the collar 23 andhence the sleeve 26 is held against any descent other than downwardyielding. The result is that as the slips 33 move downwardly, their camsurfaces 37 slide outwardly upon the upper end of thesleeve 26, thusunhooking the means 36-311. As the member 10 now moves furtherdownwardly within the slips, the cams 31 first project the slips ratherrapidly toward the well casing. Then, the more forcible cams 30 comeinto play to expand said slips with greater power and cause them totenaciously bite the casing, thus eectively supporting the member 10,.and all parts connected with the upper end of the latter.

If the downward movement or the member 10 be sufficient, the stops v32will directly engage the upper ends of the slips 33'as shown in Fig. 3.This relation will also exist when withdrawing the entire apparatus fromthe well casing, and at that time, the stops 38 contact with the sleeve26 and hold the slips 33 against any excessive outward movement.

It will be seen from'the description above that Il have provided astructure having a number of important advantages. For one thing, I haveprovided slips which are locked against accidental movement but whichmay shoulder 20 and a seat.' 13 therefor to produce a normallyfluid-tight connection between said sections. This shoulder and seat,likewise, serve to limit the extent to which the spring 25 is stressed.A st-illfurther feature consists in the fact that the'l'slips are somounted upon their supporting means that they are self-supporting andwill notdrop out of such supporting means either when breakage occursimmediately beneath the slips or when the tubing support is out of thewell and the weight removed therefrom.

l claim Y y l. A tubingl supporting assembly compris ing upper and lowertubular members slid-l ably connected with each other to permit furtherdownward movement of the upper member when the lower member reaches adownwardlimit, normally retracted slips around said upper member, lneansfor projecting said slips when the latter are held and said upper membermoves downwardly, a thrust shoulder on the periphery of said lowermember, a thrust collar slidably surrounding said lower member belowsaid thrust shoulder, means connecting said thrust collar with saidupper member, a coiled compression spring interposedI between saidshoulder and said collar, and slip-actuating means supported by saidspring, said slipaotuating means extending between the upper end of saidspring and said slips.

2. A tubing supporting assembly comprising upper and lower tubularmembers slidably connected with each other to permit further downwardmovement of the upper member when the lower member reaches a downwardlimit, normally retracted slips around said upper member, means forprojecting said slips when the latter are held and said upper membermoves downwardly, a spring barrel connected with the lower end of saidupper member and projecting downwardly therefrom around said lowermember, said barrel. having an linternal upwardly facing shoulder at itslower end, and a vertical slot near its upper end, a collar on saidlower member within the spring barrel, a coiled compression springwithin -said spring barrel and interposed between said shoulder and saidcollar, a slip-actuating sleeve around said upper member and the upperend of said springbarrel, and connecting means between said sleeve andsaid spring, embodying a portion passing through the aforesald slot.

3. lln a tubing supporting assembly, a tube having external cams, eachcam being formed with a peripheral face converging downwardly with theaxis of said tube and disposed at an extremely acute angle to said axis,each cam also having an abrupt lower end face declining inwardly fromthe lower end of said peripheral face; and slips mounted around saidtube, each slip having an inwardly projecting lug provided with an upperend face inclined uniformly with and normally abutting said lower endface of one of said cams, said lug being provided also with an innerside face extending downwardly from said upper end face and inclineduniformlywith said peripheral face of the cam, said end faces beingco-operable in effecting quick projection of the slipsupon initialdownward movement of the tube within said slips, the other faces beingthen co-operable to elfect forcible outward movement of the slips uponfurther depression of the tube.

4. In a tubing supporting asse1nbly,abody, casing-engaging slips at theperiphery of said body, means for outwardly forcing said slips uponrelative vertical movement of said slips and body, inter-hooked means onsaid slips and body normally preventing said relative vertical movementthereof, said means being releasable by slight outward shifting of saidslips, and means for effecting said slight outward shift-ing.

5. In a tubing supporting assembly, a body, casing-engaging slips at theperiphery of said body, means for outwardly forcing said slips uponrelative vertical movement of said slips and body, interhooked means onsaid slips and body normally preventing said relative vertical movementthereof, said means being releasable by slight outward shifting of saidslips, downwardly facing cams on the lower ends of said slips incliningtoward said body, a sleeve whose upper end abuts said cams, and meansfor holding said sleeve while the body moves downwardly, causing saidcams to outwardly shift said slips and release said interhooked means.

6. A structure as specied in claim 5; together with stops at the innerextremities of said cams to abut the sleeve and limit projection of thelower ends of the slips when the assembly is out of the well, and stopson said body to engage the upper ends of said slips and hold themagainst excessive outward movement. f

7. ln a tubino supporting assembly, a body having circumferentiallyspaced cams, slips spaced from the body and engaging said cams, andsprings between said slips yieldably connecting adjacent slips andeffective to retract said slips. A A

8. In a tubing supporting assembly, a body having circumferentiallyspaced cams, slips spaced from the body and engaging said cams, andsubstantially U-shaped springs between said s'lips having hooks at theirends connected with said slips to yieldably connect adjacent slips witheach other.

9. Apparatus for supporting tubing comprising a supporting element,slips carried by said element, means for normally locking said slipsthereon against accidental movement, and means for automaticallyreleasing said locking means whenever either end of the tubing isrelieved of substantial pulling force.

10. A supporting device for well tubing comprising slips, means forsupporting said slips, means for forcing said slips laterally outwardupon relative longitudinal movement between said slips and saidsupport-ing means, means for normally locking said slips slips, meansfor forcing said slips laterally outward upon relative longitudinalAmovement between said slips and said supporting means, means forinitially locking said slips against such relative longitudinalmovement, and means for moving said slips laterally to release them fromsuch locked position.

l2. Apparatus for supporting tubing comprising telescoping tubularsections, slips carried by one of said telescopic `tubular sections, aspring exerting pressure which will be eiective to telescope saidsections whenever substantial pull is removed from either end thereof,and means for moving said slips longitudinally, said means beingdirectly mounted upon said spring independently of the lower telescopingsection.

13. Apparatus for supporting tubing comprising telescoping tubularsections, slips carried by one of said telescopic tubular sections, saidslips being movable longitudinally with relation to said slip-carryingmeans, means for 4moving said slips laterally to grip the sides 'of thewell as the result of said longitudinal movement, and a single means forlimiting both longitudinal and lateral movement of said slips.

14. Apparatus for supporting tubing comprising a slip-carrying meansembodying cam-lugs, slips having sockets by which they are carried bythe cam-lugs when said slips are in retracted position, said slips beingmovable longitudinally with relation to said slip-carrying means, andmeans for eiecting such relative longitudinal movement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JAMES K. PUTNAM.

